In the wake of the shooting at an gay nightclub in Florida, North Carolina Senate candidate Deborah Ross, a Democrat running against incumbent Republican Sen. Richard M. Burr, called for "commonsense" gun control measures, the Salisbury Post reported.

"The right time is now" to talk about how to prevent more violence like Sunday's massacre in Orlando, Ross said Monday at an event in Kannapolis, North Carolina, adding that background checks could be a way to prevent terrorists and people who have a history of violence from getting guns.